I read. I write. I create.

Category: 85K

A new year comes with new writing goals! Except these goals are more or less the same as last year’s… meaning, these goals are whatever I didn’t finish last year. I got a lot done in 2018, but… you know what? Let’s just get into it. Here are my writing goals for 2019.

85K Writing Challenge

I’ve talked about this not too long ago. I’ll be participating in the year-long 85K writing challenge. I plan to get a few projects written, edited, and ready for publication. Between this challenge and three sessions of NaNoWriMo, I think I can do it. It’ll certainly keep me busy, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and I’m beyond ready for it.

So, which projects will I be working on throughout the year? That’s the million-dollar question.

George Florence & The Perfect Alibi

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, then you’re certainly familiar with George and Lilah. This dynamic duo have been in my head since 2011 and it’s finally time I kick them out of the nest and they see the world. I still have a lot of edits to go through and I’ve started sending it to my local writer’s group again.

My original plan was to try to self-publish it this year but I’m think it won’t be until 2020 now. I’ve been coming up with plans, deadlines, and a timeline for it all. They will get their chance to see the world soon, I promise. I know it’ll never be perfect, but there’s still some tweaking that needs to be done.

I also need to hire an editor. So, if you’re looking forward to this book and have been enjoying my content for quite a while, please consider joining the journey on my Patreon. It’s an exclusive community where you’ll get inside access to my books, writing process, and a lot more. I’m trying to reach a $500/month goal so I can save for a few months to afford an editor. Every bit helps and I’m looking forward to sharing the process with you all!

Sunday Morning (Vol. 1)

This book was supposed to be self-published in just a few days. Unfortunately, 2018 had to get a few final punches in during November and December and I was unable to work on this book at all. I had to push back the release date, but that’s okay. It’s still going to come out, I’m still going to do it. Slow and steady wins the race, people. I’m super nervous about it but completely excited at the same time.

I’ll be posting more updates on this as the month goes on though. As always, my patrons get a first-look at it all. Also, since I needed to push back the release date I’ve decided to bring back the promo-box!

If you become a patron at the $1 reward tier or higher, then you’ll get an exclusive promotion box mailed to you. Of course, you must be okay with giving me some sort of mailing address so the box can be sent to you. I promise the address will be deleted once the box is sent and that will be the only thing I send you.

Sunday Morning (Vol. 2)

Yes, there will be more. Since the first book is just about done, I’ll be starting work on the second book to be released at the beginning of 2020. I’ll definitely be utilizing the 85K challenge to get this book in order throughout the year.

Secret Project

Yeah, I know. I work on secret projects a lot. My patrons don’t even know what this is yet. This is something I’ve thought of doing for a while but never thought I could pursue it for some reason. With some of the things that happened in 2018, some changes coming to this blog in 2019, I realized that this is something I can do. And I’m going to pursue it.

I’ll be using the 85K challenge to its full ability for this project as well. This project is in the pre-planning stages and I’m not even sure how it’s all going to come together yet. With that said, I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to announce it, but I’m sure it’ll be sometime in 2019… otherwise I wouldn’t be mentioning it now.

Submissions & Contests

One goal I make for myself every year and don’t always follow is submitting my work to magazines, other websites, and contests. I’d like to submit a poem, flash fiction, or whatever at least once a month. Twice a month will be ideal, but with everything else I have planned and going on, we’ll see how it goes. As long as I submit something once a month, I’ll be good.

I have a lot of pieces sitting in my writing folder on my computer and none of them are doing anything. Surely there’s a couple that’s worthy of winning a contests or being published in a magazine, right? I just need to take the time to scour the Internet for the right fit for those pieces.

Wish me luck!

That’s All… I Think.

I believe I’ve covered everything. It’s a lot, right? I know, I’m wondering how I’m going to do it at all. Honestly, if I get just two of projects done, I’ll be happy. I know it’s a lot, but I’m ready for the challenge and I’m eager to get started. I can’t wait to see what I can accomplish in 2019.

Oh, Wait. Two More Things.

…But I’m not going to mention them just yet! Just be on the lookout early March for one of them.

What are some of your writing goals for 2019? Let me know in the comments below. If you liked this post, please share it around.

2019 is going to bring a lot of new and fun things. I’m excited about what I have planned and I can’t wait to share them and implement these ideas and try new things in general.

One new thing I’ll be trying is the is 85K Writing Challenge.

I had originally heard of this challenge from Ari a while back. It was something I had looked into from time to time always telling myself I’d do it and then I never did. In 2019, I’m finally going to do it.

What is the 85K Writing Challenge?

This is a year-long challenge catered to writing, editing, and publishing a book. Of course, I supposed you don’t need to participate in the whole year. If you already have a novel needing editing, you could only do those months if you wanted.

Here’s how it works… every step of the challenge is done in 90 days, which is three months.

January, February, and March are “Write” months. This is where you get your writing done. Duh. You have 90 days to outline (if you outline) and write the first draft of your novel. April is used as a “Finish” month in case you need some extra time or you’d like to take a break.

May and June are the “Edit” months with July being the “Finish” month. So, you have two to three months to get your editing and revising done plus room to take a break before you move onto the next step of the challenge.

August and September are known as the “Prep” months while October and November are known as the “Publish” months. This includes all your planning and prepping for publishing, actual publishing, along with marketing and the like.

December is then, of course, a “Finish” month. Whether you’re finishing up your publishing step or you want to take a break before the new year and a new challenge.

Yeah, so? What makes this so special?

The 85K Challenge website has blog posts, forums, and a writing tracker to aid you along the way. There’s encouragement and support on the website but also ask around and see if anyone you know on your social media and within the blogosphere is doing the challenge.

We’re all in this together and it’s great to have others keep you accountable. Having a website and a tracker definitely helps as well.

Why am I doing this?

I need to get into a better routine with my writing. I know I say this a lot, but I always try different routines and none of them end up sticking. When I said routine, I mean I need a timeline and deadlines for myself to get things done.

I have so many different ideas and want to do them all. Sometimes I end up working on multiple projects and ones that are close to being done get pushed to the back burner. I need something to keep me accountable to follow through for every single novel I write through the end.

This writing challenge starts at the writing stage and ends at the publishing stage. With this, I could have a book a year out.

This is my first time doing this challenge, so we’ll see how it works for me. I’m eager to start though! I can’t wait to get into a better timeline and have deadlines throughout the year. I make deadlines for myself, but… sometimes I don’t always keep them because there aren’t any true consequences.

What about NaNoWriMo?

I still plan on participating in Camp NaNoWriMo and NaNo. Those months are April, July, and November. April and July for the 85K challenge are “Finish” months. So, it won’t exactly be a break for me but it’ll be a break from that current project. I can work on my Short Story Sundays or Wattpad.

November is a “Publish” month for the 85K challenge, but again, I can work on other things while I do the technical side of publishing for the novel I can work on something else.

Ambitious, I know. But I always give myself way too much to do, so the tradition needs to continue.

I have five days (holy crap, 2019 is in five days!) to come up with a plan of action for both the 85K challenge and NaNo throughout the year. I need to figure out my self-publishing schedule along with Wattpad because I do want to stay active on there.

So, I’ll be coming up with writing goals for the new year. That will be its own blog post though in the new year… which is in just a couple of days… so you’ll know it soon.

Are you participating in the 85K writing challenge in 2019? Have you done it before? Are there any other challenges you do? Let me know in the comments below. If you liked this post, please share it around.

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